Method of assembling a lamp and base

ABSTRACT

A method of assembling an electric lamp which has a base formed of two half sections made of insulating material. The base is aligned on and attached to the lamp by positioning the half sections on contact prongs, and by holding the two halves together through the action of a holding means such as a screw and nut or rivet with the screw or rivet extending through the interior of both half sections of the base.

United States Patent 1 Evans METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A LAMP AND BASE [75] Inventor: Melvin W. Evans, South Euclid,

Ohio

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Schenectady, NY.

[22] Filed: Mar. [4, 1974 [2]] App]. No.: 451,099

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 389.974. Aug. 20, i973.

521 11.5.0. 29125.13; 29/464; 29/526; 339114412 5| lIlLCl. ..H0lj9/l8 [58] Field of Search 29/2513, 25.11, 463, 464, 29/526; 339/144 R, 144 T. I45 R, 145 T. 206 P, 210 T, I96 R; 3l3/3l8; 240/52 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,436,259 2/l948 Keil'fer 339/l45 R X Apr. 8, 1975 Fox 339/206 P O'Keefe 2.40/52 R Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Examiner-James W. Davie Attorney, Agent. or Firm-Emil F 505. .lr.; Lawrence R. Kempton; Frank L. Neuhauser [57] ABSTRACT A method of assembling an electric lamp which has a base formed of two half sections made of insulating material. The base is aligned on and attached to the lamp by positioning the half sections on contact prongs, and by holding the two halves together through the action of a holding means such as a screw and nut or rivet with the screw or rivet extending through the interior of both half sections of the base.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A LAMP AND BASE This is a division, of application Ser. No. 389,974, filed Aug. 20, 1973.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to electric lamps. More particularly. the invention relates to a method of assembling a base to an electric lamp of the type that can be plugged directly into a receptacle.

2. Description of the Prior Art Certain lamp applications such as theater and studio lighting are limited as to the amount of space available for lighting and consequently cannot always utilize the base and socket construction illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,262,629. The illustrated construction is usually used for spot and flood lighting. In order to remedy this situation. lamps were developed which could be plugged directly into a receptacle or electrical outlet. One such lamp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,259, assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Although this design solved the space problem, the construction contains numerous parts including an insulator in which are placed the socket prongs and a metal base cap which in turn is attached to the reflector portion ofthe lamp. This lamp construction with its numerous parts and numerous assembly operation has a high direct labor content and is, therefore, expensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a lamp which can be plugged directly into a receptacle thereby saving space. Still another object of the invention is to provide a lamp base construction with a minimum number of parts. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a lamp base structure which can be economically assembled.

The objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a two-piece base made of insulating material and aligned with and attached to a lamp through the action of contact prongs and a holding means such as a screw and a nut or a rivet. The lamp contains contact posts. or lead-in conductors. which are hermetically sealed to a reflector section. Contact prongs are attached to the posts by soldering, for example, and a portion of the contact prongs extends in either direction beyond the post. One of the insulating base sections contains an alignment slot or slots on its interior surface which is positioned against a portion of the contact prongs to align the base section in a predetermined position. This insulating base portion also contains a hole which extends through the base wall.

The other half of the insulating base section contains two openings which extend through the base section wall for receiving the socket prongs of the contact member. This portion also contains a hole which extends through the base wall and is aligned with the hole in the first base section.

After the two half base portions are positioned on the contact prongs, a screw is inserted into the hole which extends through both base section walls, and a nut is attached at an end opposite the screw head to firmly draw the both half sections close together to form the base. An alternative method of attaching the two base sections is to insert a rivet instead of the screw and nut and peen over one end of the rivet to provide the force which draws the two half sections together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the various components of the base-lamp prior to assembly according to the method of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled baselamp.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing. an electric lamp I0 has a glass envelope 3] comprised of reflector section II and cover portion 12. Ferrules or lead-in conductors 13 are hermetically sealed in the reflector section to an energy translation device, not shown, such as a filament or electrodes. A typical lamp which can be assembled according to the method of the invention is a PAR 46, Medium Flood, 200 watt, volt. Contact prongs l4 and I5 are attached to the ferrules by soldering, for example. A portion of each contact prong may be cut and bent around the ferrules as shown at 16 and 17 in order to give a reliable con nection between the contact prong and the ferrule.

As shown in FIG. I, the contact prongs l4 and 15 extend in both directions away from the ferrules. A portion of the prongs I4 and 15 may be bent back upon themselves as shown at 18 and 19 in order to form socket prongs for insertion into a receptacle. At the other end of the contact prongs are extensions 20 and 21 which will aid in the alignment of the insulating base portion. In prior art lamps, extensions 20 and 21 would be clipped off inasmuch as they were not utilzed after the bent portion had been attached to the ferrules.

Assembled base 22 shown in FIG. 2 is comprised of insulating base sections 23 and 24 and an attaching means such as screw 25 and nut 26. Insulating base sections can be made of a ceramic material or any other insulating material which can give the required strength, temperature resistance and insulating property.

Base section 23 contains alignement slots 27 and hole 28. The alignment slots do not extend through the thickness or wall of the base section, whereas hole 28 goes directly through the wall. Base section 24 contains contact prong openings 29 and hole 30. Holes 28 and 30 are positioned in the base sections such that they are in direct alignement when placed over the contact prongs.

In assembling the contacts and base to the lamp l0, first contacts 14 and 15 are slit and bent so that the bent portion may be attached to the ferrules 13 by soldering, for example, as shown at 16 and 17. After the bent-back portions are attached. this leaves extensions 20 and 21 which go beyond the end of the ferrules I3. Insulating base section 23 is brought into alignment with extensions 20 and 21 by inserting the extensions in alignment slots 27. As indicated previously. alignment slots 27 do not extend through the base wall and therefore act as a stop once the extensions have penetrated a predetermined distance.

The next assembly operation is to place base section 24 in alignement with contact prongs l4 and 15 by moving the contact prongs through slots 29 until the inner edge of base section 24 touches the inner edge of base section 23. This allows bent-back portions I8 and 19 to extend beyond the slot 29 so that they may make electrical contact with the female portion of a receptacle. With the base sections in position. screw is inserted into and through holes 28 and 30. Nut 26 is then placed on the screw and tightened until such time as the two sections are firmly forced together. The base itself is now attached to the lamp and held in place by the socket prongs. An alternate to this method assembly and tensioning of the base sections is to place a rivet through holes 28 and 30 and peen over one of its ends. Since the base sections are held in position through the tensioning of the screw and nut or rivet and the support of the contact prongs. it is not necessary to proceed with the costly operation of attaching a base member to the reflector section by cementing. for example What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States:

I. A method of assembling a base structure to a lamp comprising the steps of:

a. attaching contact prong members to hermetically sealed lead-in conductors; b. positioning a base section containing an alignment slot over and against an end of said contact prong members having a predetermined length extended away from said lead-in conductor;

c. positioning a second base section over and onto that end of said contact prong having socket prongs by sliding the openings in said base section over the socket prongs; and

d inserting a clamping device through holes in each base section to securely hold said base sections in place through the interaction of the clamping means and the alignment slots.

2. The method describing in claim 1 wherein said clamping device is a screw and a nut and said screw is inserted into and through said holes and said nut is attached to the end of the screw thereby firmly holding the base sections in position.

3. The method described in claim I wherein said clamping device is a rivet and after inserting the rivet one end is peened over to firmly hold the base sections in position.

4. The method described in claim 1 wherein said attaching of the contact prong to the lead-in conductor is accomplished by cutting a portion of the contact prong and bending it around the lead-in conductor and then soldering the bent portion to the conductor. 

1. A method of assembling a base structure to a lamp comprising the steps of: a. attaching contact prong members to hermetically sealed lead-in conductors; b. positioning a base section containing an alignment slot over and against an end of said contact prong members having a predetermined length extended away from said lead-in conductor; c. positioning a second base section over and onto that end of said contact prong having socket prongs by sliding the openings in said base section over the socket prongs; and d. inserting a clamping device through holes in each base section to securely hold said base sections in place through the interaction of the clamping means and the alignment slots.
 2. The method describing in claim 1 wherein said clamping device is a screw and a nut and said screw is inserted into and through said holes and said nut is attached to the end of the screw thereby firmly holding the base sections in position.
 3. The method described in claim 1 wherein said clamping device is a rivet and after inserting the rivet one end is peened over to firmly hold the base sections in position.
 4. The method described in claim 1 wherein said attaching of the contact prong to the lead-in conductor is accomplished by cutting a portion of the contact prong and bending it around the lead-in conductor and then soldering the bent portion to the conductor. 